Liam was surprised by what he had read. He wasn’t sure if Nabal had the foresight to know he would run into Gimmel during his travels or if he believed there was a chance it could happen, but the fact that he did have Gimmel by his side meant that he was given permission to show this book to at least someone.
Liam showed Gimmel the message left by Nabal. Judging Gimmel’s expression, Liam understood that he even he was shocked to see his name in the message. He had looked at Liam with a weird expression that Liam couldn’t make out, but after a few seconds it turned into understanding. Curious, Liam had asked what he was thinking and the response Gimmel had given him made him think he was on the right track for at least one of his theories.
“I think my uncle believed you would have ran into me at some point and made some contingencies to make sure you had me help you out…,” Gimmel explained, although the look that started to form as he spoke the words made Liam believe there were some holes to that theory. He then continued, “I’m not sure what he was basing this off of or how long he believed it would take for you to somehow run into me in this wide, wide world, but that’s what I think he did.”
Liam nodded along as he agreed with the second half of Gimmel’s statement. Although he did think that Nabal had believe the two would meet eventually, he just didn’t understand what knowledge he was going off of to think it. Deciding it their time wouldn’t be well spent pondering the plans or thoughts of someone who wasn’t nearby, Liam asked Gimmel if he wanted to look through the book with him.
Agreeing with him, Liam turned the page and began looking over the contents within the book. They spent hours looking over and getting excited by what they came across. While looking at the drawings and reading over the explanations of the things in each section of the book they both agreed to the same thing. This book was only the beginning. It didn’t contain everything he had to share, instead it was full of basic techniques, footwork, weapon handling, and more. True to Nabal’s nature, something Liam was told and learned when he first started training under the man, this book only held the basics to everything he wanted them to learn.
The first section of the book went over different ways to hold daggers and terms as well as different throwing weapons and their usage. Liam was surprised at all the different throwing weapons listed. Besides the Throwing Daggers he usually used, there were also needles, darts, throwing hatchets, kunai, shuriken, and more. After seeing all the different Throwing Weapons listed, Liam was turning the possibilities of him using them and how.
The second section contained basic techniques for different fighting styles he had listed. He gave the name of the fighting styles, pictures of foot placement, dagger grips, and how to proceed through the whole process. Every one of these were drew, written, and explained in so much detail, Liam was amazed.
Another thing he noticed as they flipped through this section were some of them had a single letter circled at the corner of the page. A few had an L while a few had a G. Gimmel had noticed this too making them think that Nabal had marked these ones out for them to take note on what he believed would be best for them to work on.
As Liam looked at each recommended technique Nabal had chosen for him to look at and consider, he had to admit they seemed to be great ideas. They incorporated the basics he had instilled into him while also adding some feints and…Liam paused as he noticed something he hadn’t at first.
He wasn’t sure what it was, but there was something weird about the drawings. He looked over one and was trying to see if he could figure it out, but it just didn’t stand out. He turned to another one to see if he could spot what it was that was nagging at him but still couldn’t figure it out.
Gimmel had noticed Liam’s behavior as he kept flipping through from one technique to another and asked, “What’s wrong?”
As Liam scanned the drawing to a technique that had the person going in for a Counter Stab and then into a Back Stab he said, “I feel that there’s something I’m missing, but I can’t figure it out.”
Gimmel’s eyes furrowed at that. He then looked at what Liam was staring at but couldn’t see or feel what he was saying. He tried to look further into each page Liam was looking at, but just like the last few pages he just couldn’t figure it out.
After the seven page, Gimmel let out a sigh and said, “I don’t know what it is you’re seeing, but I think I can suggest something that might help you figure it out.”
Liam stopped what he was doing and looked at Gimmel. With an expectant gaze, he waited for the teenager to continue. Seeing that he had his attention, Gimmel continued, “Why don’t we practice the techniques he marked down for you? I know there are other sections we haven’t taken a look into yet, but let’s save those for another time and start with these first. Who knows, maybe while practicing these, you’ll figure out what it is that’s bugging you.”
Liam nodded as he looked back at the book. As he flipped back to the first page with his letter circled he replied, “Alright. That sounds good.”
Gimmel smiled as he looked back at the book. “Okay, let’s start with the starting stance before you go over the movements of a technique slowly. If I know my uncle he would want you to go over the basics before heading straight for the other stuff.”
Liam smirked at that. He had to agree with Gimmel. If Nabal was here he would have him go slowly to make sure his posture, stance, angles, and other basics were on point before proceeding. Liam looked over the page and took in what he saw. This first technique was called Dealing to Hand.
He wasn’t sure about the name, but from what he understood from the description and the drawing, it looked like it was a technique for one to go from a normal stance to a fighting stance, daggers drawn and ready. He studied it for a long moment before he felt ready to try it.
Once he felt comfortable enough he handed Gimmel the book and stood in front of him. He made sure his daggers were sheathed on his hips and then looked at Gimmel. He stood there, relaxed, and loose.
“When I say Deal then get into the stance,” Gimmel instructed without looking away from the page. After a few seconds passed Gimmel quickly called out, “Deal.”
Liam swiftly reached for his daggers and pulled them out before getting into the stance he had just looked at. While the movements felt off and a bit weird he felt like the finished stance was perfect. He looked at Gimmel for confirmation, but when he saw the frown on Gimmel’s face he felt like something was wrong.
“What is it?” Liam asked as he started to relax his body.
“Ap,” Gimmel scolded as he looked at Liam. Liam froze, confused as to what was going on. However, before he could say anything Gimmel stated, “I didn’t tell you to relax. Get back into the stance.”
Liam did as he was told and waited. Gimmel looked at him and back at the drawing. After a few times of staring at him and back at the page, he finally said, “Your form is terrible. My uncle would be disappointed.”
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Liam was taken aback. “What do you mean my form is terrible? I copied the form that was on the page. Why would you say…”
“Your knees aren’t bent enough, your back is too hunched, the placement of your feet is off by a few centimeters, one of your arms is higher than it should be…,” Gimmel paused for a moment to look into Liam’s eyes before asking, “Should I continue?”
Liam stared at him for a long moment before he let out a chuckle. Everything he mentioned were things Nabal had mentioned before when he first started learning from him. He hadn’t realized that being away from the man and not practicing the basics for a short while made undone the amount of work Nabal had drilled into him.
As he thought that he went back to what he was thinking when he took the stance. He did feel like something felt off. He also mentally cursed at himself for believing he had the stance perfectly in one go. He looked back at Gimmel and said with an agonizing sigh, “This is going to be a long night.”
Gimmel smiled as he nodded in agreement and said, “Oh yeah it will be.”
For the next few hours, Liam had Gimmel correct his stance. He wanted to try and have his body memorize the feeling of what the end result was supposed to be before going into the motions of getting into it. It wasn’t easy at first. He tried to remain in the same stance for as long as he could, but even after a minute he felt like he wanted to get out of that stance.
Even going from a relaxed stance to the Dealing to Hand stance was a task he didn’t think was going to be as hard as it was. His body felt like it wanted to end up in a different way each time he moved into it. His arms were either too high or too low, the same happened with his knees. His grip on his daggers felt off each time he gripped the handles too high or low.
Even though he was getting annoyed or irritated, he was reminded of his time with Nabal when he was first learning. He went through the same thing when it came to basic dagger attack stances or movements. Nabal would swat at his legs, knees, or hands whenever he was off balanced or showed improper form.
He didn’t realize how much he had forgotten. Thanks to Gimmel’s help though he was starting to correct the bad habits he once had. While he didn’t get the perfect form he needed to be in, he was starting to feel the improvements over time. Through this practice he thought about his other fighting style. The one Uncle Naro was training him to do.
While he was pondering about it, he realized the man never really taught him any stances. Instead it was more about the way he moved his Mana Type Hands, and switching around the tool weapons for optimal usage. He then wondered if he would do better if he had better form or stances for when he fought with that fighting style.
His thought then shifted to what he remembered when he saw Uncle Naro fight that giant sea creature. The way his body looked, he couldn’t really call it a fighting stance, but there was a certain form to it. However, the more he thought about how Uncle Naro looked when he wasn’t moving, the more he understood the man didn’t really have a proper fighting stance. At least not one he could really understand. Instead, Uncle Naro looked like a wild beast ready to strike.
To someone who really didn’t know what the fighting style entailed, it looked like it was just a wild beast fighting wildly and recklessly. A formless stance that made no sense. However, after talking with Uncle Naro and watching his fight in person, Liam understood that wasn’t really the case. One thing he did notice whenever Uncle Naro had stopped, his body always returned to the same position and posture.
Uncle Naro had explained that the reason why was so he could react to any situation. He didn’t elaborate on it further, making him feel like he wanted Liam to think about it more on his own. But after practicing the Dealing to Hand over and over something finally clicked. What finally clicked was what it was that was bothering him. Uncle Naro’s words made him go back to what it was he was trying to figure out with the pictures he saw in the book.
Without warning, Liam stopped what he was doing and grabbed the book from Gimmel. Gimmel, shocked at Liam’s suddenness, protested as Liam flipped from page to page with his letter on them. He looked over the different drawings and focused on the beginning part of the drawing and the beginning part of the drawing underneath it. He compared it to the others and finally understood what it was he found weird.
“What is it?” Gimmel questioned as he saw understanding in Liam’s eyes.
Liam looked at the teenager and finally said, “These forms. They can be used as single interactions or as a combination.”
Gimmel’s face furrowed before turning into a puzzled expression. “What do you mean?”
Liam went back to the page that had Dealing to Hand. He pointed at it and said, “This is the starting point correct? The starting stance.”
Gimmel nodded his head. “Yeah, that’s pretty much what it says. This then goes into Cutting the Deck. The next step using this stance.”
“Yeah, but these other techniques,” Liam said as he moved to the third one. He then pointed at the first drawing and the movements entailed to it. “This stance is Dealing to Hand which implies you can use this as a single attack.”
Gimmel nodded.
“What’s been bothering me is the second drawing. The starting stance isn’t the same,” Liam flipped back to the Cutting the deck and pointed to how the technique should end. He then flipped back to the one he previously had to show the stance of the second drawing looked similar to how the last technique ended. “See, it shows how you can move into this technique from the last.”
Gimmel looked at what Liam was pointing out and was surprised. He hadn’t caught that at all. He was fixated on the first drawings that he didn’t bother looking at the other. He thought it just went into further details on how to properly move. However, after looking it over he did see what Liam was seeing.
“Not only that, but the last two he has marked down for me don’t start with Dealing to Hand. Instead their starting points are the ending parts of either Cutting the Deck or this…Shuffling the Cards…” Liam looked at Gimmel and asked with a serious tone. “What’s up with these names? It’s almost like they are named after playing cards terminology.”
Gimmel gave Liam a confused expression. Then with a confused tone in his voice he asked, “Playing cards terminology? What is that?”
Liam blink a few times. He wasn’t sure if the teenager was messing with him or if he was serious. He then remembered what his clan was and figured it was probably just related to that. Not wanting to go into details, Liam waved a hand dismissing the question.
Feeling unsure about what Liam was talking about, Gimmel decided not to ask about the topic any more, but instead asked to see the book so he could see if it was the same for the ones suggested for him. After looking over each one he saw the same pattern as well. He then thought about why this was but then thought about some things he had learned back in his clan before piecing it all together. “Yeah, that makes sense,” Gimmel muttered to himself.
“What makes sense?” Liam asked, curious as to what he was thinking.
“I was trying to see if any of these techniques were ones from mine and my uncle’s clan,” Gimmel started as he looked at the page before him. “While none of these remind me of ones I was taught, they still have some principles from the Club side of the clan.”
Liam raised a brow. “What principles are those?”
“String combinations,” Gimmel replied. He saw the confused look on Liam’s face and tried to think about what he could divulge and what he shouldn’t. After coming to a decision he informed, “Each Suit in the clan has principles to how they fight. I won’t tell you what they are, but for the Club Suit, String Combinations is something they focus on. They try to blend in combination attacks between not only their daggers but throwing weapons as well depending on what they are fighting.”
Liam took a moment to digest what he was told. He thought back to what he saw in the book and nodded as he agreed to it. However, there were some attacks that felt like they didn’t fit that. Before he could think more about it, Gimmel noticed the look on Liam’s face and said, “I know you noticed that some of the string combo principle. Where most of these aim to create openings, others aim for the killing blow. That is related to the Heart principle. Or the Fatal Principle.”
“The Fatal Principle?” Liam repeated.
Gimmel nodded. “The Fatal Principle aims for vital spots that are considered fatal areas. Fatal areas are spots that could, if executed properly, finish off the enemy. The killing blow.” Gimmel looked back at the book and smiled. “This book is full of techniques and fighting styles that encompass both the Club and Heart Suit Principles, but at the same time doesn’t have any of their actual fighting styles you would learn if you were a part of the clan. Instead, they are all self-made by my uncle.”
Liam looked at Gimmel for a long moment before looking at the book once more. Earlier when he and Eri were talking he was worried that he didn’t have anything for his Phantom Cat side. Now that he had this book though…things were different. He now had something for both sides. A fighting style for his crafter side and a fighting style for his Phantom Cat side. While he had Uncle Naro around to help him with the former. He had both this book and Gimmel to help him with the latter. And the best part…there was still three other sections that held more once he mastered enough of the first section.